NBB:Early Years
by hangman005
Summary: Set before the movie this prequel explains how Alex got addicted to lemon lime soda. - NEW CHAPTER UP!
1. The Day after Mothers Day

**A/N: This story is inspired by BM:Before Milk by Music of the wind. Although this is a once off, it will be considered cannon to provide some more development in current and future stories. This Story will be continued on March 20th and this first Chapter can be considered a preview.**

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Alex came home from school feeling sad and confused. It was the day after mothers day, and they had spent the day telling the class what they had done for the mom's. Well everyone except Alex.

Alex just dumped his bag on the ground and dropped himself on his bed, cuddling his bear. It was the only thing that Alex knew came from his mom. He didn't know anything about her, no one ever talked about her, the subject seemed to be taboo around the apartment.

Nat came home from school and found Alex clinging on to his bear.

"Hey Alex, you ok? You look a bit blue," Nat said, Alex wasn't usually the type to get down.

"Hmm, yeah," Alex said looking up from his bear.

"You sure? You look blue," Nat said

"No I don't. We didn't get to play with paint today," Alex said, he enjoyed painting though he always seemed to end up absolutely covered in the stuff.

"No I meant you look down, is something bothering you?" Nat asked .

Alex hugged his bear tighter.

"Do you know what day it was yesterday, Nat?" Alex asked quietly.

"Sunday?" Nat said unsure if that was what Alex was getting at.

"Mothers day," Alex said sadly.

"Alex," Nat said uncomfortably and took of his bag and dropped it on the ground. Nat sat down on Alex's bed and put his arm around him.

"Where is our mom, Nat?" Alex asked feeling empty inside.

Nat wasn't sure how to tell his five year old brother, Alex was extremely young when it happened.

"She's um," Nat said quietly, he had never talked to anyone about his mom since she died. He knew how much it hurt his dad and didn't want to bring it back.

"Does she not love us. Is that why she is not here?" Alex said hugging his bear even tighter still.

"No Alex!" Nat said shocked, "She loved us lots,"

"Then why isn't she here?" Alex asked, school that day had never made him feel so alone, despite the fact that day after day he had watched other kids being picked up by their mom's it was this day that seemed to drive it home.

"Why are you asking this Alex?" Nat asked hugging Alex tighter.

"We had to tell the class what we did for our mom's for mothers day. And everyone else stood up and said all the cool things they did. And then it was my turn, I just stood there until…" Alex said before bursting out crying.

Alex laid down and buried his head in the pillow. It had been bad enough at school, Alex had stood there for five minutes while his teacher tried to coax him into sharing with the class. Alex was never shy like this, but the teacher didn't think about it until Alex suddenly burst out crying and ran out of the class.

Nat didn't know what to say or do. He had assumed that since Alex didn't really know his mom that it wouldn't bother him. Nat instinctively just ran his hand through Alex's hair. He remembered when he was crying his mom would do this to try and calm him down, he hoped it would work on Alex.

"Why don't we have a mom?" Alex sobbed harder into the pillow as Nat futilely tried to calm him down.

Nat tried to calm Alex down, but it took 2 hours before Alex stopped crying, Nat was scared, he had never seen Alex like this before and didn't know how to explain it to Alex. He hoped it would just blow over.

By the time Nat had managed to coax Alex off the bed and out of the room. They saw that Jessie was gone. Jessie had been babysitting until their dad got home.


	2. Alex, Mom's Dead

"You're just in time for dinner," Mr Wolff said as he spotted his sons. He noticed that Alex had been crying. "Are you ok, Alex?"

"Yeah," Alex lied quietly. Mr Wolff could tell that Alex wasn't ok, but he knew that Alex would only tell anyone anything if he wanted to, so he didn't push it further.

Mr Wolff served the boys their dinner before sitting at the table to join them. Alex poked half heartedly around the plate, he didn't feel like eating.

"So how was school today Al… Nat?" Mr Wolff said changing the direction of the question when he saw Nat violently shake his head.

"It was good, we get to go to the Statue of Liberty tomorrow," Nat said pleased that he had avoided setting Alex off again.

Nat and Mr Wolff talked and ate until they were finished. They noticed Alex hadn't eaten anything.

"Alex, you won't get any desert until you've finished you dinner," Mr Wolff said looking at Alex's plate.

"I don't care, I'm not hungry," Alex said as his stomach growled.

"Alex, what's the problem?" Mr Wolff said seriously.

Nat just shook his head violently to Alex, he didn't want Alex to set himself off again.

"I have a tummy bug," Alex lied again.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Mr Wolff asked his son kindly.

Alex just nodded.

"Get yourself ready and I will tuck you in," Mr Wolff said as both he and Alex stood up.

Mr Wolff went and looked in the medicine cabinet as he heard Alex brushing his teeth. He grabbed a thermometer and went into Alex's room.

"Where's Ted?" Alex asked quietly but frustrated, he was just on the bed.

"Who?" Mr Wolff asked confused.

"Ted, Ted E Bear" Alex said getting agitated.

"Here he is Alex," Mr Wolff said picking him up of the dresser and giving him to Alex. Alex clung tightly to the bear as he climbed into bed. His pillow felt a bit damp from where he had cried into it.

Mr Wolff stroked his son's hair making sure to feel his forehead as he did. It didn't feel hot, but he put the thermometer in Alex's mouth just to be sure. When he checked it, he was surprised to see it reading normal.

"Night Alex, if you need anything just call out," Mr Wolff said kissing Alex on the forehead before tucking him in.

"Night dad," Alex quietly still clinging onto Ted E Bear.

Mr Wolff turned out the light and closed the door leaving it slightly open as he left.

"Did Alex have a bad day at school?" Mr Wolff asked quietly.

"Yeah, I think so," Nat said evasively, he didn't want his dad to start hurting again.

"I'll have a talk to his teacher tomorrow," Mr Wolff said.

When Nat woke the next morning he woke to the sounds of Alex sobbing into his pillow. Nat rolled over and hung off the side of the bed to look at his brother. True to the sound Alex was crying into his pillow tightly hugging Ted E Bear.

"What's the matter Alex?" Nat asked his younger brother.

Alex rolled over and looked up at Nat as tears rolled down his checks.

"I had a bad dream," Alex sobbed,

Nat got down from the top bunk and sat beside his brother putting an arm around him.

"What happened?" Nat asked, trying to get Alex to talk about it.

Alex sat up allowing Nat to hug him easier.

"No one would play with me," Alex sobbed sniffing heavily, "They said that they wouldn't play with me because I don't have a mom,"

"Don't worry Alex, it was just a dream," Nat said comforting his brother, he was still surprised at how much this bothered Alex. Alex didn't even know her.

Eventually Nat calmed down Alex and helped him get ready for school, Nat also helped Alex pack for the sleepover he was having and his friend Jefferies house.

After breakfast, their dad walked them down to school, when they got there Alex and Nat went of to join the rest of the band, Cooper, David, Thomas and Josh.

"Hey Nat," Joshes step sister Rosalina said as she walked passed.

"Top of the morning to you," Nat said in his English accent before going red.

Mr Wolff walked into the school, and went to Alex's classroom, where his teacher was getting ready.

"Mr Wolff, sorry about yesterday, I didn't realize." Mrs Thorpe said as he entered the class room.

"Realize what?" Mr Wolff asked confused.

"Alex didn't tell you?" Mrs Thorpe said looking a bit worried.

"Tell me what?" Mr Wolff asked.

"Yesterday, I had the kids draw pictures and write a story and read it to the class of what they did for their mom's on mothers day," Mrs Thorpe explained.

Mr Wolff's facial expression changed to realization.

"He was last being a W, he just stood there for five minutes before he ran off crying. When I calmed him down and asked him what was wrong, he told me he didn't have a mom."

"She ahh died, when Alex was one and a half," Mr Wolff said uncomfortably. He didn't want to talk about.

"Poor kid, I think you should talk to him, he was pretty upset," Mrs Thorpe said quietly.

"Yeah," Mr Wolff said vacantly he was unsure if he could talk to Alex about this.

Mr Wolff left before school started.

Alex was in a funny mood, he didn't want to do anything anyone wanted him to do. He was really wound up, and although Mrs Thorpe knew why she didn't know what she could do about.

Finally the bell went for recess.

"Yay Recess," A kid called Ryan said jumping to his feet in excitement.

"Playlunch!" Alex shouted him down.

"It's Recess," Ryan said back to Alex.

"Playlunch!" Alex shouted louder and more aggressively.

Ryan grew annoyed and punched Alex in the side of the head, hitting just below Alex's hairline. For a five year old it was a hard punch. Alex's head pounded and he began to sob.

Mrs Thorpe came over and separated the two, on any other day Alex would have flattened him or try to anyway.

"Ryan wait for me outside," Mrs Thorpe ordered. Before giving Alex her undivided attention.

"It's ok Alex," She said soothingly, "Let me have a look," She moved Alex's hand from where he was holding his head., there was a small cut there and it would no doubt swell up.

"Do you want some ice for it?" Mrs Thorpe asked sweetly.

Alex just nodded and allowed himself to be led away.

After school the next day, Alex came home he was just as upset as he was the day before. Alex ran into his room dropping his bag before throwing himself on his bed and tightly hugging Ted E Bear and sobbing into his pillow.

"What's the matter Alex?" Nat asked as he followed Alex in.

"I now know what I'm missing out on," Alex sobbed into the pillow.

"Alex," Nat said trying to comfort Alex.

"Why don't we have a mom?" Alex screamed into the pillow, no one had answered that question yet, "did she die, did she run away, was she abducted by aliens?"

Nat was frustrated, he knew he would have to be the one to tell Alex, he didn't want to, he missed his mom so much it drove him mad. The only thing that kept him sane was his music, something his mom had started to teach him before she died.

"Alex, mom died," Nat said quietly finally working up the courage to tell his little brother. It stung him so much as it brought back such a painful truth.

Alex howled louder into the pillow, he knew that there was no chance that he would ever get to know his mom.

Mr Wolff come to the sound of his son screaming his gut's out.

"What's the matter Alex," Mr Wolff said trying to comfort his son.

Alex didn't say anything but continued to scream into his pillow. Nat didn't know what to do.

"He wanted to know where mom was," Nat said helplessly.

Mr Wolff looked annoyed at Nat, as though this was all his fault, before he went over tried to comfort Alex.

"Come on Alex, she's in a better place…" Mr Wolff said hollowly, his heart wasn't into talking about his wife.

"NO! SHE'S DEAD," Alex screamed as loudly as he could before burying himself in the pillow again.

"Calm down, Alex, please." Nat pleaded desperately. He lay down beside Alex and tightly hugged him. It took another two hours to finally calm Alex down.


	3. Saying The Wrong Things

"Come on Alex, lets get up the band is going to be around for practise soon," Nat said gently as he helped his brother up.

By the time Nat and Alex were in the living room the rest of the band were there with there instruments. Alex went and sat down at his drums, while Nat talked to the band.

"Guy's you need to be careful around Alex, he's not coping well with the fact that mom's gone." Nat whispered.

"You mean dead," Josh said tactlessly.

"Shut up Josh," Nat said angrily.

Josh pushed Nat.

"Don't tell me to shut up"

"Don't push me," Nat said pushing Josh back.

Josh pushed Nat over, so then Nat tripped Josh over, until they were fighting on the floor. Alex picked up his drumsticks and threw them at Nat and Josh, neither paid attention to them, So Alex stood up and ran back to their room, he grabbed Ted E Bear and climbed onto Nat's bed before crawling up into the roof through a small panel.

"Guys!" Cooper yelled causing Josh and Nat to stop fighting. "You upset Alex,"

"Where did he go?" Nat said now worried about his brother.

"To your room," Cooper said, as Nat stood up and ran to the room.

"Alex?" He asked unable to see him.

Alex didn't answer, but Nat heard sobbing coming from the crawl space in the roof. Nat climbed on to his bed and poked his head through the crawl space. He saw Alex curled up tightly holding on to his bear. He had grown more attached to thing over the last couple of days.

"I'm sorry, Alex" Nat said, he wanted to climb up there but there was no room.

"Nat what are you doing?" Jessie called out, she was always around when the band practised.

"Trying to get Alex down, me and Josh had a fight and we upset him," Nat answered back, before he turned to Alex. "Come on Alex, I can't help you if you are up there.

Alex slowly climbed down and sat next to Nat on his bed. Jessie climbed up and sat on the other side of Alex and put her arm around him.

"What's the matter little buddy?" She asked quietly.

"I just wanted to know mom," Alex said as tears ran down his cheek.

"You were just a little guy Alex, but your mom loved you and will always be with you," Jessie said softly. It was hard on everyone although Alex was too young at the time to understand.

"I don't remember anything about her," Alex said sobbing.

"I remember the funeral… you weren't there because your dad…" Jessie said before she realized she had said the wrong thing.

Alex sobbed harder and buried his head into Jessie's shoulder.

Nat got off the bed and went to get his dad.

"Dad you need to talk to Alex about mom." Nat said as he found him doing laundry.

"Alex, has been pushing me out, it's you who he tells everything." Mr Wolff said.

"Alex pushing you out? You never let Alex say goodbye to mom," Nat said angrily. "You pushed him out dad!"

"He was too young, you wouldn't understand," Mr Wolff said defensively.

"You need to make me but more importantly Alex understand dad. Alex needs you dad, if you don't do anything, you will lose all meaning to him," Nat argued.

"What do you mean, Nat" Mr Wolff said, he knew he was backing into a corner.

"You never share mom with anyone, you keep her to yourself. You need to share her with us dad, she wouldn't want you to do this. Mom gave Alex that bear to remember her, but you're not giving Alex any memories," Nat said on the verge of tears.

"It hurts too much to share it, I don't want to hurt you boys," Mr Wolff said silently crying.

"Your hurting us by not talking about it. I at least remember mom, but Alex has a large empty spot. You need to talk to him before he tries to fill it up with something else," Nat said.

Mr Wolff knew his back was against the wall. He would have to face his demons.

"How about I talk to you both tomorrow night, so then I can find some of your mom's stuff to share." Mr Wolff said defeated.

Nat just nodded, and went back to his room, Jessie had given Alex a can of lemon lime soda to cheer him up.

"You know Alex, your mom gave you your first can of lemon lime soda the day she died," Jessie said as Alex drunk it.

Nat couldn't shake of the feeling that Jessie had told Alex the wrong thing.


	4. Meltdown

Nat woke up the next morning to find Alex had raided the fridge, and was on what looked to be his 9th can.

"Alex what are you doing?" Nat asked, that amount of soda couldn't be good for a young boy.

"I'm remembering mom," Alex said aggressively.

"I'm not sure mom would want you to remember her this way," Nat said.

"What would you know!" Alex answered angrily, "You at least remember her, all I have is stupid soda and a stupid bear to try and help me. And it doesn't work because I DON'T REMEMBER HER!"

Nat could see just how upset Alex was, he knew it wasn't fair on Alex, it wasn't fair on either of them.

"Calm down, Alex. Dad is going to share mom with you tonight, I told him that you need to know her," Nat said gently.

"Can you tell me a bit about her now?" Alex asked quietly.

"You remember how before you played drums, you used to play sax?" Nat asked Alex kindly.

Alex just nodded and took another drink of soda.

"Well, you used to play drums, before you played sax and drums again. Back when mom was alive. You used to play them using the pots and pans, and mom would spend hours with you showing you how to make music out of it. She taught me how play the piano before she died," Nat said remembering how his mom had help make music the biggest influence in his life.

"I wish I remembered her," Alex said sadly, he wished he had something to go by. He couldn't remember what she looked like or sounded like.

"We will help you remember, Alex" Nat said putting his arm around him.

At school that Alex was still drinking lemon lime soda, despite Mrs Thorpe constantly confiscating and disposing of the cans.

At recess Mrs Thorpe asked Alex to stay behind. Alex didn't care what he did, so long as he had his soda, and he pulled out another can and cracked it open.

A man knocked on the door and slowly entered. He talked quietly with Mrs Thorpe before walking over to Alex.

"Hello Alex, my name is Stephen," He said quietly waiting for Alex to respond.

Alex just looked at him uninterested before he took a drink of soda.

"Is there anything you want to talk to me about?" he asked quietly.

Alex got up and went and hid behind Mrs Thorpe.

"Don't worry Alex, he won't hurt you, he's the guidance counselor he just wants to talk," She said kindly to Alex.

Alex didn't move, he remained hidden behind Mrs Thorpe.

"Come on Alex, why don't you give me the soda and talk to Mr Samson?" Mrs Thorpe asked taking the soda out of Alex's hand.

Alex reached out trying to snatch it back, but Mrs Thorpe pulled it away from him.

"No Alex, your not having it back, you need to talk to Mr Samson…. We're worried about you, you haven't been yourself lately." Mrs Thorpe said sternly.

"MY SODA!" Alex screamed trying to grab it.

"No, Alex" She said sternly.

"Calm down Alex and talk to me," Mr Samson said quietly.

Alex ignored him and instead picked up a pencil holder from the desk and threw it on the floor. Some of the pencils broke as the hit the floor.

"Alex, you're not getting your soda back," Mrs Thorpe said defiantly.

Alex walked back to the next desk and picked up another pencil holder, he was in no mood to listen, not until he got his soda back.

"Alex, please don't make me get your father in here," Mrs Thorpe pleaded.

Alex threw the pencil holder, this time at Mrs Thorpe, hitting her in the leg.

Mr Samson motioned for her to go. She left taking Alex's soda with her.

"Alex, your not getting anywhere by making a mess," Mr Samson said trying to calm Alex down.

Alex continued to throw things around the room and at Mr Samson who appeared to be unphased .

Ten minutes later and the bell rung, Alex had run out of things to throw, so had began throwing the chairs across the room.

The rest of Alex's class started to file in, and stood in the doorway stunned. They had all thrown tantrums before, but Alex seemed to be taking things a step too far.

"Alex calm down, or mom won't let you come over any more," Jeffery said unsurely to Alex. He liked Alex he was usually such a fun loving guy.

"Rub it in why don't you!" Alex shouted and picked up a pencil holder off the floor and threw it at his friend hitting him in the head.

"ALEX!" Mr Samson said loudly, he drew the line once Alex started trying to hurt people.

Jeffery walked slowly back outside, silently crying because Alex had hurt him. Mrs Thorpe and another teacher took the rest of the class to the library, before Mrs Thorpe came back.

"Alex, your dad will be here any minute!" She said loudly so Alex could hear her.

Alex ignored her, and began ripping posters off the wall.

Alex then without warning sunk to the floor and began crying.

Mr Samson and Mrs Thorpe were unnerved, but instinctively went forward to comfort Alex, when Mr Wolff arrived.

"What's going on… are you OK Alex?" Mr Wolff asked walking quickly over to his son and giving him a hug.

"They… They… They won't let me remember mom," Alex screamed into his dads shoulder.

Mr Wolff sighed and hugged Alex tighter as he looked around the room, Alex had been angry, he could tell from the destruction around him.

"Calm down Alex, just settle down," Mr Wolff soothed

It took half an hour, but Mr Wolff finally managed to calm down enough to talk. Alex had been winding himself up so much lately it took forever to calm him down.

"Come on Alex, let's sit up here," Mr Wolff said softly, helping Alex over to the only table whose chairs he had not yet upended. Alex was still crying softly as he was guided to the table.

"Do you want something to drink Alex?" Mr Samson asked quietly.

Alex nodded and sniffed loudly.

Mr Samson left for a minute and came back with a cup of water.

Alex knocked it off the table and onto the floor.

"I want my soda," Alex cried.

"Alex you are not having anymore soda," Mr Samson said sternly.

"Give me my soda!" Alex cried louder. He was winding himself up again.

Mr Wolff gave a look of defeat. He knew that Alex had made up his mind and would only wind himself up more until he got it.

Mr Samson relented seeing the look on Mr Wolff's face. He left and two minutes later came back with a can of lemon lime soda. He gave it to Alex and watched with unease and intrigue as just holding the can seemed to calm Alex down.

"What are you doing Alex?" Mr Samson very quietly asked Alex.

"Trying to remember mom," Alex said quietly before he took a drink.

"Does it work?" Mr Samson asked just as quiet.

"No," Alex said putting the can on the table.

"She probably hates me cause I don't remember her," Alex said as he started to cry.

Mr Wolff put his arm around Alex.

"She doesn't hate you Alex, it's not your fault you don't remember," Mr Wolff whispered to his son.

"I think I should take Alex home," Mr Wolff said to Mr Samson and Mrs Thorpe.

They both agreed, Alex looked like he needed to get away.

Mr Wolff collected Alex's stuff and took him home.

"I want you to get some sleep, when you wake up I want to show you a couple of things," Mr Wolff said quietly.

Alex just nodded timidly, he followed his dad into his room, and stripped down to his boxers and a singlet and climbed into his bed, tightly grabbing Ted E Bear and hugging him.

Mr Wolff tucked Alex in and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Alex shut his eyes, he heard his dad start singing to him.

"_I know this supposed to be fun,_

_I know all our troubles are done,_

_But I don't feel alright,_

_I know we were gonna be alone, _

_Together,_

_I miss my family,_

_I miss my family,_

_Not that you're not enough,_

_But the roads so far and we couldn't walk it,_

_We're in the middle of Nowhere,'_

_Alex fell asleep as his dad continued to sing._


	5. Making A Bad Day Worse

Alex slowly began to wake a few hours, later. He lay there with his eyes closed for a few minutes before he slowly began to open his eyes.

"Hello sleepyhead," said the kind quiet voice of a girl.

Alex was suddenly wide awake and leapt out of his bed and ran out of his room.

"DAD!" Alex screamed running into the living room.

Mr Wolff stood up when he heard Alex call.

Alex ran up to his dad and hid behind him.

"There's someone in my room," Alex said quietly hugging his dad's leg.

Alex noticed that his dad had been talking to another lady, who looked pregnant and was sitting on the couch.

The girl that was in Alex's room came out looking a bit shaken. Alex hid behind his dad so that he was as far away from either he could get.

"Alex, do you remember Onita and Little Grace?" Mr Wolff asked quietly as he crouched down and put his arm around Alex.

"No," Alex mumbled too quietly for anyone to hear.

"Huh Alex, do you remember?" Mr Wolff asked quietly.

"No," Alex said quietly, but audible this time.

"Onita was you mothers best friend," Mr Wolff said quietly, "Little Grace is her daughter, she is Nat's age,"

"Hello Alex, my you've got big," Onita said quietly.

"Hey Alex, sorry if I scared you," Little Grace said looking at Alex.

Alex stayed hidden behind his dad.

"Go on Alex say hello. "Mr Wolff said softly, "Onita and Little Grace are going to try and help you remember mom,"

Alex peaked out slightly.

"Hello," He said nervously.

"He isn't usually this shy, he's just had a trying day." Mr Wolff said, "Would some soda cheer you up?"

Mr Wolff remembered the effect it had on him in the classroom.

Alex nodded.

Little Grace went into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of soda, and came back.

"Here you go Alex," She said holding it out.

Alex slowly came out from behind his dad and got the soda.

"Thanks," Alex said quietly before going and sitting in the egg chair.

Mr Wolff noticed Alex was still wearing just his boxers and his singlet.

Alex sat in the chair and quietly drunk the soda.

"So what happened? You were pretty vague on the phone." Onita said looking at Mr Wolff.

"Since school on Monday Alex has been pretty upset about his mom being dead," Mr Wolff said quietly. "He had a bit of a meltdown at school today, which is why he is home early."

Little Grace went over to the egg chair she squeezed in beside Alex.

"You miss your mom?" she asked Alex quietly.

"How can I miss someone I don't remember?" Alex asked crying softly.

"Because she's family, Alex," Little Grace said putting her arm around Alex. "I miss my dad,"

"How did he die?" Alex asked sniffing loudly.

"Car crash," Little Grace said softly.

"So what's with the soda?" Onita asked quietly.

"Jessie told Alex, that his mom gave him his first can the day she died," Mr Wolff said trying not to bring back any memories.

Alex took another drink of his soda.

"That's why Alex had his meltdown, I think he was trying to remember her by drinking the stuff. His teacher took it off him and Alex got upset." Mr Wolff said quietly.

They were all distracted by Nat who walked through the door.

"Hey dad," Nat said, he then saw Onita and Little Grace, "Hey what are you doing here?"

"Sonny said Alex needed us, so we came," Onita said.

"Hey Nat," Alex said quietly from the egg chair. "Can you get me another soda?"

Nat looked at Alex.

"No Alex, I think you have had enough soda for one day," Nat said, he had heard about Alex's meltdown.

"GIVE ME SODA!" Alex shouted throwing the empty bottle at Nat, but luckily missing him.

"Alex!" Mr Wolff said warningly.

"Alex, you don't need soda," Little Grace said quietly to Alex.

"Yes I do! I want to remember mom!" Alex shouted almost ready to cry.

"Alex, you said it yourself that you still don't remember," Mr Wolff said kindly.

"But I might!" Alex screamed before he started to cry.

"Here we go again," Nat muttered to himself.

Unfortunately Alex heard.

"Easy for you to say 'Mr I Remember Mom'" Alex screamed crying.

"Calm down Alex," Little Grace said trying to hold on to Alex who was too worked up to sit still.

"I want Soda!" Alex screamed again.

"Alex, No!" Nat said forcefully.

Alex broke free from Little Grace and went over to the coffee table, he started to throw coasters at Nat.

"Give me soda!" Alex yelled.

"Cut it out Alex," Nat said getting angry and going to chase his brother.

Alex ran around the other side of the coffee table before he tripped over Onita's handbag.

"Nat! Watch the…" Mr Wolff called too late as Nat knocked the table and Onita's tea fell off the table and onto Alex.

Alex screamed as the almost boiling tea poured over him, scolding him with its heat.

"I'm sorry Alex," Nat said almost in tears, he didn't mean to hurt his brother.

Mr Wolff, gently but urgently, moved Nat out of the way to get to Alex, who was now howling on the floor in pain.

Nat went and sat down beside Little Grace stunned.

Mr Wolff looked at Alex, he was burnt all over his right shoulder and arm. Alex was still screaming, he was trying to hold his arm but it was hurting too much.

"Onita, can you run a cold shower?" Mr Wolff said

"I'm on it Sonny" Onita said disappearing down the hallway

"I didn't mean to do it," Nat said crying softly.

Little Grace put her arm around Nat.

"I know, it was accident" Little Grace said comforting Nat.

Mr Wolff helped Alex up. Alex was still howling in pain, the burn clearly visible, and by the stain on Alex's white singlet it looked to stretch down his back.

Mr Wolff led Alex down the hall to the bathroom. He helped him into the shower still in his boxers and singlet, he didn't want to cause Alex anymore pain.

Alex cried even louder still as the water hit him. It provided little relief but the pressure seemed to cancel it out.

Mr Wolff tried to help Alex for the next five minutes but he didn't seem to be getting any better.

"Can you get Alex, a towel, some shorts and a dry pair of boxers?" Mr Wolff requested more than asked.

Onita came back with the towel, shorts and boxers.

Mr Wolff helped Alex out, and took off Alex's boxers and dried his lower half before putting the dry ones on and some shorts.

Mr Wolff carried Alex while Onita went in front of him, opening the doors before helping Alex into the car. He was still howling in pain.

"Can you look after Nat for a few hours?" Mr Wolff asked needlessly.

"Of course Sonny," Onita said before Mr Wolff drove Alex to the hospital.

Onita walked back upstairs and into the apartment, Nat was shaken and she could see he had been crying.

"Don't worry Nat, it wasn't your fault," Onita said kindly.


	6. Tired and Frustrated

Five hours later and Mr Wolff came back in holding Alex's hand.

Nat and Little Grace had fallen asleep on couches while they waited but woke when they walked in.

Alex was crying softly as he walked in. He was covered in a dressing that wrapped around his arm and torso, covering his burns.

"Is he ok?" Nat asked quietly as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"He has 2nd degree burns on his arms shoulders and back." Mr Wolff said quietly.

"I'm sorry Alex, I didn't mean to," Nat said to his younger brother.

"It's ok," Alex sniffed loudly. They had given him some painkillers so he didn't feel the burn as much.

"He burst a blister in the car, and the doctors were considering keeping him over night," Mr Wolff said to Onita. The doctors were seriously concerned about infection.

"Come on Alex, I think you should try and get some sleep." Mr Wolff said quietly and led Alex to his room.

Mr Wolff helped Alex take of his shorts and helped him climb in to bed.

Alex began to cry quietly as his burn still hurt abit despite the painkillers.

Mr Wolff gave Alex his bear.

"Don't worry Alex, you'll be ok, here's Ted to keep you company," Mr Wolff said to Alex. Today really hadn't been a good day for Alex.

Mr Wolff kissed Alex on the head before leaving and turning the light out. He left the door open so he could hear if Alex needed him in the middle of the night.

When Nat entered the room, he saw Alex, he wasn't sure whether he was asleep or not, but he heard is little brother sobbing quietly. Nat stripped down to his underwear as he climbed into bed, he felt really bad about burning Alex, even though everyone said it wasn't his fault.

When Nat woke up he saw Alex was crying and drinking soda. Alex had bags under his eyes and Nat wondered if he actually was asleep.

"Are you ok Alex?" Nat asked sitting with his brother on his bed.

"It hurts too much," Alex cried taking another drink, he had been trying to sleep all night but had failed so instead spent the night drinking soda.

"Did you get any sleep?" Nat asked, he wanted to give Alex a hug, he looked like he needed one, but Nat didn't want to hurt him anymore.

Alex just shook his head sniffing loudly.

"I'm sorry for burning you Alex," Nat said quietly, he still felt really guilty about the whole thing.

"Why does it hurt so much?" Alex asked sobbing again.

"I don't know Alex," Nat said quietly.

Alex finished off the bottle of soda, but having spent the night drinking soda he really needed to go toilet. Alex got unsteadily to his feet, and stumbled to the bathroom.

Alex cried louder as he felt shoots of pain run over his burns. Alex came out and heard banging in the kitchen. Alex slowly walked into the kitchen, Nat went and had a shower.

"Hey Alex, are you feeling any better today?" Little Grace asked Alex kindly.

"No" Alex cried, he felt worse than yesterday and was extremely tired but it hurt too much to sleep.

"Don't worry Alex you'll feel better soon," She said reassuring Alex.

Alex slowly went over and sat in the egg chair. He tenderly tried to sit in the chair. He cried loudly as he put his back on the back of the chair. It hurt a hell of a lot more now he had pressure on it.

Mr Wolff came in yawning, he saw Alex in the chair crying.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Mr Wolff asked noticing the bags under Alex's eyes.

"No it hurts too much," Alex cried loudly.

Mr Wolff knew the next couple of days would be extremely tough on Alex. He had been told he would have to take Alex in to have his dressings change daily for the next couple of days before they would only need to do it every two days. But he should be better in two weeks.

Mr Wolff stood beside Alex and just stroked his hair for five minutes trying to sooth him. He then went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water he picked up the two containers the doctor had given him. One contained some painkillers and the other an antibiotic.

He took them over to Alex and gave Alex one of each.

"This will make it hurt less," He said kindly. Alex took them and washed them down with the water.

"It's not working dad," Alex cried, he didn't want to hurt any more.

"Give it time Alex," his dad said stroking Alex's hair again.

Nat walked out fully dressed, he looked around and saw Little Grace in the kitchen and Alex and Mr Wolff in the lounge. He was wondering where Onita was when she walked through the door.

"Geez do they have no decency," She said throwing a paper on the table, she had gone out to get something for them for breakfast.

Nat looked at the paper.

_Tough Times_

_Alex Wolff, the drummer for the Silver Boulders, who brought us the hit 'Crazy Car' and who are believed to be creating another album, appears to be going through tough times. Alex Wolff is believed to have had a meltdown at school yesterday (see above) although no one has commented on why. Alex Wolff was photographed later that day being carried to hospital appearing to be suffering from burns…_

Nat shook his head, he knew they were famous but couldn't the press just leave them alone.

Onita began dishing up everyone's breakfast, and handed them around.

"Your mother loved omelettes," She said quietly as she gave Alex his.

Alex lethargically ate his omelette, if he had any energy he might have tried to remember his mom while eating it.

When they had all finished, Alex got up and went back into his room, when Mr Wolff walked in five minutes later he found Alex trying to get ready for school although he hadn't got dressed yet.

"You're not going to school for a couple of days," Mr Wolff said quietly crouching down beside Alex.

Alex didn't have any energy to say anything.

"But we have to take Nat and I need to tell your teacher," Mr Wolff said, and then he would take Alex to have his dressings changes before bringing Alex home, hopefully to have some sleep.

Alex nodded quietly.

"Come on lets get you dressed," he said.

He went to Alex's drawers and pulled out some shorts and socks before he turned to Alex.

"What do rag do you want?" He asked softly.

"My stars and stripes one," Alex mumbled, Mr Wolff could see that if it wasn't for the pain Alex was feeling he would fall asleep right there.

Mr Wolff pulled out Alex's stars and stripes do rag and took the clothes over to Alex who was swaying on the spot.

Mr Wolff held Alex's shorts while he stepped into them and pulled them up, he then tied Alex's do rag on his head.

"Sit down Alex," He said gently.

Alex sat down on his bed and his dad put his socks and shoes on. He didn't want a shirt on as not to put anymore pressure on Alex's burns.

Mr Wolff helped Alex up and they both walked out again.

"Can I have a soda dad?" Alex asked quietly

Mr Wolff looked at Alex, before he nodded.

Mr Wolff went into the fridge and got a soda and opened it before giving it to Alex.

Alex drank it and felt slightly more energetic, but not much more.

"You ready Nat?" Mr Wolff called, before Nat sauntered out carrying his school bag.

The three of them went down to the car and drove to school. Once there Nat went over to the rest of the band while Mr Wolff and Alex went to see his teacher.

"Hey Sonny, Hey Alex," Mrs Thorpe said surprised to see them and to see that press were right.

Alex didn't answer.

"Hi, I was just coming in to say that Alex won't be at school for the rest of the week." Mr Wolff said.

"Looking at him I can see why," She said quietly, "Has he had any sleep?"

Mr Wolff looked down at Alex before looking back up at Mrs Thorpe.

"No, he said it hurt too much to sleep."

"Poor guy," Mrs Thorpe said before crouching down and look at Alex's fatigued face. "Get better soon, ok Alex,"

Mrs Thorpe felt she should do something for Alex.

"Come on Al, we'll get your bandages changed and then you can get some rest." Mr Wolff said kindly.

"Can I have another soda dad?" Alex asked quietly.

Mr Wolff looked at his son again, he didn't have the heart to refuse him.

"Ok Alex, but only because you are hurt,"

Mr Wolff took Alex over to the vending machine. Once he got it, he gave it to Alex.

Alex tried to open the can, but he was too tired to concentrate on grabbing the little tab. He quickly grew frustrated, and threw the can on the ground. The can split open and Alex just stood there crying. A couple of kids laughed at him and it made him feel worse.

"How would you like me to burn you so much that you can't sleep," Nat said angrily coming over to his brother.

They stopped laughing and glared at Nat, while realizing how stupid they were being.

Nat went and bought another can from the machine and opened it before giving it to Alex.

"Here you go little bro," Nat said quietly.

Alex was still crying when he started to drink the soda.

"Thanks Nat," Alex cried.

"Thank you Nat," Mr Wolff said, he was pleased that Alex had such a good brother.

"Come on, let's get going Alex," Mr Wolff said grabbing Alex's hand.

They were almost at the car when an angry voice shouted out.

"Mr Wolff!"

They both turned around and saw Jefferies mom storm over to them.

"What gives your son the right to throw things at mine," She said nostrils flaring, she had been rung up the school, the day before, who said Jeffery had to get stitches.

"Alex is having a difficult time understanding why he doesn't have a mom," Mr Wolff said defensively.

"So what? Now he is going for the walking wounded look?" She said, she hadn't seen or heard the news.

"No, Alex got…" Mr Wolff started to say as Jefferies mom grabbed Alex's burnt shoulder. "…Burnt,"

Alex started crying loudly in pain, he was wide awake again.

Jefferies mom let go and took a step back shaken, she realized she had gone too far.

"I'm sorry Alex, I didn't know," She said as Alex continued to scream in pain.

"If you want to talk call me this afternoon, but right now Alex needs to see a doctor." Mr Wolff irritated.

Mr Wolff helped Alex into the car.

"Why did she hurt me?" Alex asked sobbing loudly.

"She didn't mean too Alex, she just got carried away like you did yesterday when you hurt Jeffery," Mr Wolff said in a comforting tone.


	7. Inflickishun

30 minutes later and they were at hospital, during that time the initial shock of pain Alex had felt had faded and he was now in the same half asleep stupor he was in before.

"Hello Alex, Are you feeling any better today?" The doctor asked caringly as Mr Wolff helped Alex sit on the bed.

"It still hurts too much," Alex sniffed

"You look completely jaded, Alex…" She said quietly.

"What does that mean?" Alex asked sniffing loudly trying to stop crying.

"Tired, you look tired Alex." She said quietly.

"The pain isn't letting Alex sleep." Mr Wolff said shortly.

"I don't want to give Alex anything stronger because he is so small," The doctor said quietly. "I also don't want to mix medication,"

Mr Wolff nodded, it looked like they would have to wait until Alex eventually feel asleep.

"Are you going to be a brave guy for me, while I take of your bandages?" she asked looking into Alex's eyes. She knew it could be very painful if the bandage stuck to the skin.

Alex nodded sniffing some more.

Mr Wolff grabbed Alex's other hand.

"Just squeeze it hard if it hurts, ok Alex?"

Alex nodded once more.

The doctor started unwrapping the bandage on Alex's arm. As she moved up Alex's arm, he started squeezing his dads hand hard. Alex started crying in pain the more she moved up towards the shoulder.

"Please stop!" Alex cried out loudly when she was almost at the armpit.

Mr Wolff sat down beside Alex and had Alex rest his head in his chest. He took off Alex's do rag and began to stroke Alex's hair.

Alex jerked his arm and screamed out in pain as she finished taking the bandage off his arm.

"I'm sorry Alex, but I have to," She said quietly.

She started to unwrap the bandage around Alex's torso. Alex kept crying into his dads chest, he wished the pain would go away.

"You're supposed to make the hurting stop," Alex cried harder into his dads chest.

The doctor sighed, she realized how much it must hurt a little kid. After more crying and more resistance she finally managed to get all the bandages off Alex.

"Huh, that doesn't look good," The doctor said having a clear view of Alex's burns.

"What doesn't," Mr Wolff asked cautiously as Alex continued to cry into his chest.

"I think we should have kept him overnight last night, his burns got infected." She said quietly.

The doctor left the room for two minutes coming back with a second doctor.

"Hmmm, I don't like the looks of that," the 2nd doctor said examining the infection. "I think you should admit him overnight and run a course of antibiotics through an IV,"

The doctor went around to face Alex, while the 2nd doctor talked to Mr Wolff.

"Hey Alex, do you think you can be a brave boy again while I put new bandages on?" she asked kindly.

Alex nodded with tears still coming out of his eyes.

"What's inflickishun?" Alex asked crying.

"Infection? It means something got into your burns and is stopping it getting better, but we will get rid of it," The doctor said giving Alex a reassuring smile.

The doctor waited until Mr Wolff and the other doctor and finished talking, before she started by putting a burn relief cream over Alex's burns.

Alex gasped as he felt cool relief on his burns, which soon faded and turned back to back to a slightly lesser degree of pain as the doctor put on the bandages.

Mr Wolff took that time to ring home.

"Hello Onitia,"

"Hey Sonny, what's up?"

"Alex's burns got infected, so they are going to keep him over night,"

"Oh, that's not good, what hospital are you at? I'll come down with Little Grace,"

"Mt Sinai. Could you also bring Alex's bear with you, thanks."

Mr Wolff looked back at Alex.

"Here you go Alex, this is for being so brave," The doctor said giving Alex five lollipops.

She then took Alex and Mr Wolff up to the third floor where they had room ready for Alex.

"Do you want to try and get some sleep?" Mr Wolff said kindly as Alex laid face down on the bed.

"I want to," Alex said tiredly, but he was too uncomfortable and sore to actually do so.


	8. Memories of Mom

Half an hour later, Onita and Little Grace walked in, Alex was no closer to sleep than he was before.

"The movies make it look easy to hail a cab in this city," Onita said with a grim smile.

"It is in lower Manhattan, the hard thing is getting the cab to move," Mr Wolff said joking.

"Here's your bear Alex," Little Grace said giving Alex Ted E Bear.

Alex smiled slightly and hugged his bear. He then shuffled over a little bit to give Little Grace room to sit down beside him.

"Wanna lollipop?" Alex asked lethargically.

Little Grace lay down beside Alex.

"Thanks Alex, she said taking one.

"Can you open one for me?" Alex asked quietly.

"Yeah sure," she said opening the one she had and giving it to Alex before grabbing another one.

Alex and Little Grace spent the next five minutes eating their lollipops.

"Can you tell me a story?" Alex asked his dad when he had finished.

"About what Alex?" he asked quietly.

"Mom…" Alex said shortly.

Mr Wolff looked at Onita.

"Well Alex, your mom and I were best friends," Onita started off. "I was there when she gave birth to you. She loved you the moment you were born."

Alex put all the energy he could into listening.

"She had a love for music, which is one of the most important things she passed onto you. Most parents think it's cute when their kids started making noise with the pots and pans. But your mom would quite happily sit down with you for hours on end teaching you how to make music out of it,"

Alex smiled slightly.

"Nat told me about that yesterday," He said weakly.

"Your dad shot some videos of it, if you want to see it when you get home," She said quietly.

"What did the videos do?" Alex asked confused.

"She means your dad filmed you and your mom doing that," Little Grace whispered in Alex's ear.

"I wanna see them," Alex whined.

"You can once you get home," Mr Wolff said gently.

Alex slowly got up off the bed.

"Lets go," Alex said readily.

No one moved.

"Alex, you can't go home today, remember?" Mr Wolff said quietly.

Alex sunk to the floor and begun crying..

Mr Wolff crouched down beside Alex and held his head to his chest and began stroking his hair. He knew Alex would feel better after sleep, unfortunately for all of them Alex couldn't get to sleep.

"Don't worry Alex, we'll all sit down and watch tomorrow when we get home," Mr Wolff said as he continued to stroke Alex's hair.

"I want to watch it now, and I want to go home," Alex said crying

Onita crouched down to Alex, "What if I told you more stories about your mom in the mean time."

Alex cried for a couple more minutes, before he looked at Onita and nodded.

They helped Alex back onto his bed. Mr Wolff disappeared for a couple of minutes returning with a couple of sodas for Alex and Little Grace.

"Just after you turned one, in fact it was Nat's birthday, your mom got Nat a skateboard, because he wanted one. Unfortunately Nat never got a chance to use it, because you would use it and roll around the house on it. You got very possessive of that board and you wouldn't let anyone near it, not even Nat. After you gave Nat a fat lip he gave up and your mom got him something else. Once you were confident on your feet you skated everywhere instead of walking," Onita told Alex.

As hard as Alex tried to imagine he found himself unable to do so.

Onita was about to tell Alex another story when the nurse walked in.

"Were going to be running some antibiotics through an IV to hopefully clear up the infection." The nurse explained. "Alex, I'm going to need you to sit up"

Little Grace got off the bed and Alex slowly sat up, he leaned against the raised head of the bed and began whimpering.

"Still feeling sore Alex?" The nurse asked kindly.

Alex nodded.

Mr Wolff wished he had remembered to bring along Alex's painkillers, when he saw Onita pull them out of her pocket.

"I think it's time he had another one of these," She said and passed the container to the nurse.

The nurse looked at the container, reading the directions before taking one out and giving to Alex. Mr Wolff then gave Alex a cup of water for Alex to wash it down.

"Ok, can I have your left arm?" The doctor asked.

Alex cried a bit as he raised both arms to see which one his left one was. The nurse gently grabbed his unburnt arm and Alex relaxed is burnt arm.

"You might feel a small sting," The nurse said as she inserted the IV line before taping it to his arm.

Alex wasn't concerned, his burns still hurt more. The nurse then attached the antibiotics to the IV, before leaving.

Mr Wolff looked at his watch.

"Alex, I'm going to go pick up Nat," Mr Wolff said quietly.

"No, I want you to stay here," Alex whined.

"I'll be back before you know," Mr Wolff said trying to reassure his son.

"Please don't leave me," Alex said crying.

Mr Wolff went up to Alex and stroked his hair again.

"Hey little buddy, Do you want me to get something while I am out?"

"I don't want you to go," Alex sobbed.

"Onita and Little Grace will still be here, and your brother will be worried about you," Mr Wolff said softly and kissing Alex.


	9. A Girl From Alex's Future

At school, Nat waited for his dad to arrive, when he did he was a bit surprised to Alex was not with him.

"Hey dad, is Alex finally asleep?" Nat asked relieved it was finally the weekend.

"No, he was still awake when I left." Mr Wolff said quietly. "Now Nat, I don't want you to freak out, but Alex is at the hospital."

"What!? Is he alright?" Nat asked concerned.

"Alex's burns got infected, but the nurse and doctors can treat it. But they will keep him over night," Mr Wolff explained.

Nat pulled out a pile of cards bound together by a rubber band and showed his dad.

"Maybe Alex will like these. Mrs Thorpe had everyone make get well soon cards for him," Nat said, remembering how his class had done the same when Cooper had his appendix removed.

Back at the hospital Alex was alone, because Little Grace had gone to the bathroom, and Onita was getting some food for them, so they did not have to eat hospital food.

Alex sobbed on his bed.

A girl was being pushed by her mom in a wheel chair, she had a broken leg.

"Mom, go in there," She said.

"Juanita, it's not good to barge in on people," Her mom said, Alex however did not register the name.

"But he is all alone and sad, mom" Juanita pleaded.

"Ok, but don't be rude to him," She said and pushed Juanita into Alex's room.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked softly.

"It hurts and everyone left me," Alex sobbed.

"Do you want someone to be with you until someone comes back?" Juanita asked.

"Yeah," Alex said sniffing to stop himself crying.

"So why are you here?" She asked kindly.

"I got burned and then I got Inflickishun," Alex said quietly, he used his left arm to wipe the tears from his eyes, but it felt weird with the IV.

"I'm sorry. Gee, you look tired," She said sympathetically.

"It hurts too much to sleep," Alex said softly, "Why are you here?"

"I broke my leg skateboarding. I was about to go home and I saw you." Juanita said.

"I like skateboarding," Alex said quietly.

"Yeah? Hey has anyone ever told you that you look like the drummer from the Silver Boulders?"

Juanita's mom suddenly put two and two together and realized that he didn't just look like the drummer from the Silver Boulders… He was the drummer from the Silver Boulders. She wanted to leave as she felt like she was now intruding on his privacy.

Nat and Mr Wolff walked in.

"Hey Alex," Nat said walking in, "Who is your friend?"

"We were just keeping him company until someone came back," Juanita's mom said.

"Yeah he was looking sad," Juanita said.

"But we will go now," Juanita's mom said.

"Bye," Juanita said, waving to Alex.

"Bye," Alex said waving back.

"Wow, he looks like Alex Wolff," Juanita said to her mom when they were out in the corridor.

"Don't over react, but that was him," Juanita's mom said

"Cool," Juanita said awed, "If only I had asked him to go skateboarding with me,"

"I don't think either of you will be skateboarding for a few weeks, but you never know, some time in the future you might get that chance." Juanita's mom said smiling.

"You ok Alex?" Nat asked going up and ruffling his brother's hair.

"Yeah, that girl was nice," Alex said absentmindedly.

"I got you a soda," Nat grabbing a can out of his pocket, opening it and giving it to Alex.

Alex started to drink it.

"I also got these from your class," Nat said giving Alex all the cards.

Alex pulled off the rubber band and it flung and hit Nat in the arm.

Nat didn't say anything but sat with his brother and looked at the cards.

After ten minutes, Nat noticed Alex was now leaning heavily to the side. Before Nat realized what happened Alex had fallen off the bed and began crying on the floor.


	10. The Awakening

Mr Wolff watched it happen, Alex finally fell asleep and began leaning before he just toppled off the bed, landing on his back.

He rushed over Alex and started to comfort him.

"What happened?" Alex cried confused and in pain.

"You fell asleep and fell off the bed," Mr Wolff said holding Alex gently

Ten minutes later Mr Wolff had soothed Alex.

"I need to go toilet," Alex said softly.

"Come on then," Mr Wolff said helping Alex up. He held Alex's hand and with the other hand helped to drag the rack to which Alex's IV was attached. A couple of minutes later and they were back and Alex was lying on top of the bed.

Little Grace and Onita walked in, with some pizza for dinner. She put a box on Alex's bed, for him Nat and Little grace to share.

Alex had barely finished his first piece, when he fell asleep again landing face down in the pizza.

"wow" Little Grace said giggling.

Mr Wolff looked up and sighed with relief.

Nat was amused, relieved but also a bit annoyed, he was annoyed because he was hungry and Alex had amusingly decided to use the pizza as a pillow.

"Do we have anymore pizza?" Nat whispered as his stomach growled.

"No, but we'll go and get some more and then I will take you two home," Onita said, before leaving with Little Grace and Nat.

Alex had been asleep for two hours when he was gently shaken awake,

"Come on Alex, I need you awake for a bit," Mr Wolff whispered to his son.

"I want to sleep," Alex whined angrily.

"I know, but you need to be awake for a bit." Mr Wolff whispered.

"I want to sleep!" Alex said angrily before he started to cry.

Mr Wolff helped Alex sit up and get his face out of the pizza.

A nurse attached a new course of antibiotics to Alex's IV, before she left.

Mr Wolff got a wet cloth and wiped the pizza of Alex's face, he then sat down in a chair beside Alex's bed,

Alex slowly went and got up and sat on his dads lap.

"Can I go to sleep now?" Alex asked, although he felt that now he was awake, it would be difficult to do so.

"You need to wait until the IV is finished, then we can take the tube out so you can get to sleep easier," Mr Wolff whispered.

Alex whimpered frustrated.

Mr Wolff gently put his arm around Alex, cautious to avoid his burns and just sat there hugging Alex.

The hours dragged on until the antibiotics were gone. Alex stared absently at the wall. His burns were once again uncomfortable and he didn't think now he would be able to get to sleep.

The nurse came and detached the tubes from the entry point of the IV which was stuck into Alex's arm. After that the nurse left and Mr Wolff placed Alex on the bed, while he went and fell asleep in the chair.

Alex was right, and he lay there quietly sobbing unable to get back to sleep. He thought how unfair it was at being woken up as stared blurry eyed through the tears around the room.

Alex fed up, kicked off his shoes and threw them at his dad to wake him.

"Alex, it's 1:30" Mr Wolff complained yawning.

"I want soda!" Alex said crankily.

"Alex, you need to get some sleep," Mr Wolff said yawning.

"I can't, because you woke me up!" Alex said angrily.

Mr Wolff yawned and that was the end, he had fallen asleep again, infuriating Alex even more.

Alex got up and grabbed his dads wallet, which was sitting on the table. He stumbled out of his room and down the corridor. He wandered the hospital trying to find a vending machine, or the cafeteria, but couldn't. After 20 minutes of wandering the hospital half asleep, he found a vending machine in the ED.

Alex took a note out of his dad's wallet and tried to feed it to the machine, but the machine kept spitting it out. Alex was on the verge of finding something to smash the machine open with, when some one came over and kindly got him a soda, giving Alex back the note he took out of his dads wallet.

Alex opened the bottle took and took a drink before turning around. It was the lady that was with that girl.

"What are you doing down here so late?" She asked kindly as she looked into his sleep deprived eyes.

"Stupid dad woke me up and now I can't get back to sleep," Alex mumbled.

"Come on, you can sit with us if you like, Juanita fell out of bed, so I want to make sure her leg didn't get any worse." Juanita's mom said softly.

She guided Alex over to where Juanita was, she looked tired, not as tired as Alex who still failed to register the name.

"Hey," Alex mumbled.

Juanita looked up.

"Hey," She said enthusiastically.

"How are you now?" She asked kindly.

"I want sleep… stupid dad," Alex mumbled.

They all sat there quietly, while they waited. Alex drunk his soda. Once he had finished, he stood up, he put the bottle in the bin beside the vending machine. He pulled out his dads wallet and pulled out another note. This time the machine accepted it. Two sodas popped out and Alex went back over and sat down.

"Alex, you shouldn't drink so much soda if you want to sleep," Juanita's mom said quietly.

Alex didn't fathom how she knew his name, but tried to give one of the bottles to Juanita.

"No thanks, I only drink milk" She said kindly.

Alex opened one bottle and put the other one in his pocket.

"Juanita Mendez," One of the doctors called.

The three of them stood up and followed the doctor.

The doctor looked, at Juanita, then at Alex. He wasn't so much concerned at how different they looked, but that they were both injured.

Juanita's mom noticed the way he was looking at them.

"Only one of them is mine, Alex, is already admitted upstairs." Juanita mom said quietly.

The doctor looked unsure. "I'll check that out," He said and left for a few minutes.

The doctor left and came back 5 minutes later, he also had the doctor who had been treating Alex in tow.

"Alex, what are you doing down here at this time of night?" She asked walking over to Alex.

"Sorry, I just had to check it out, we are very wary of child abuse," The other doctor said to Juanita's mom.

"It's alright, it's better to be safe than sorry," Juanita's mom replied before the doctor started to look at Juanita.

"Stupid dad, woke me up, and now I can't sleep," Alex mumbled.

"Sorry Alex, but he had to wake you, so we could help get your burns better," She replied softly.

"Unfortunately there is a big delay on the X Ray so we can't get you in until morning. However it appears that the room you were in for the last week is still empty so we can put you up there for the night." The doctor said.

Juanita and her mom agreed and Alex's doctor began taking them all back upstairs. They stopped outside Alex's room.

"Here you go Alex, you should go and get some sleep," She said quietly.

"NO! I CAN'T SLEEP!" Alex yelled frustrated, why did they try to make him do something he couldn't do.

"Calm down Alex, I know you are tired and frustrated, but you should get try to get some sleep," She said soothingly.

"Alex, if you promise to try and get some sleep, do you want to come with us for a bit?" Juanita's mom asked kindly.

Alex nodded, he felt comforted by her genuine kindness. As much as he was still upset that his mom was gone, he liked the feeling of someone acting like one, even though Alex didn't know her.

The doctor looked at them both. She pulled out a small note pad and scribbled something onto it. She disappeared inside the room for a second and then came out again. She then took them a couple of rooms down the hall. Juanita's mom helped Juanita on to the bed, while Alex sat awkwardly in one of the chairs so he didn't hurt his burns.

Alex envied the girl as she fell asleep, and got more frustrated an hour later when her mom did too. Alex tried to fall asleep. He didn't even drink the other soda in his pocket, but he still could not do it.

Mr Wolff woke about 7:30, and was startled when he saw that Alex wasn't there. He did however find a note, explaining that Alex was a couple of rooms down the hall.

He walked down, and saw that Alex was in what looked to be the most uncomfortable position ever devised in one of the chairs. He saw the girl and lady who had been with Alex the day before. Both were awake.

"I'm sorry, he hasn't been being a pain has he?" He asked walking in.

"No, he's been good. Just frustrated about sleep," Juanita's mom said.

Mr Wolff looked at Alex, he was wondering if it would have been better if he just let Alex sleep and made the doctors worry about him later.

"Good Morning Alex," Mr Wolff said.

"Easy for you to say." Alex said very tired and very grumpy.

"Hey don't worry Alex, when you get some sleep you will feel loads better," Juanita said quietly.

"Come on Al, Onita, Little Grace and Nat will be here soon with breakfast," Mr Wolff said kindly as he helped Alex up.

"Thanks," Alex mumbled quietly to Juanita and her mother before his dad led him away.

"I thought you were going to ask to go skateboarding with him?" Juanita's mom asked gently.

"I think he's too tired to remember that he actually went to hospital let go skateboarding with me," Juanita said quietly.


	11. Stupid

As Alex laid on his bed, he pulled the other bottle of soda from his pocket and began to drink it.

"Alex how did you get that soda?" Mr Wolff asked suspiciously, he would be extremely annoyed if Alex had milked it off that lady.

Alex reached into his other pocket and pulled out his dads wallet and dropped it on the floor.

"Alex you can't just take my wallet and get things," Mr Wolff said annoyed.

"Well you weren't a lot of comfort last night!" Alex said angrily, why didn't his dad understand how had this was. Alex would like nothing more than to be able to sleep.

"I'm sorry Alex" Mr Wolff said softly.

A few seconds later everyone else walked.

"Hey little brother, did you have a good sleep last night?" Nat asked not actually looking at Alex when he asked it.

"No, stupid dad woke me up, for the stupid doctors and the stupid Annie Bottics and then I couldn't get back to stupid sleep." Alex whined.

Nat turned and looked at Alex, he couldn't remember Alex using the word 'stupid' so many time in a sentence. But Nat could see that he looked more tired than the night before.

"I could read you some of my maths homework, that will put you to sleep." Nat said with a smile

Alex gave a small laugh.

"Don't worry Alex, you should be able to go home today, and you can sleep in your own bed." Onita said sweetly.

"I wanna go to…" Alex started to say before falling back asleep.

"Wow, he is really tired. I don't think we should wake him for a few hours." Mr Wolff said quietly looking at his son.


	12. Hungry

The doctors came in a couple of hours later, and when they wanted to wake Alex, Mr Wolff profusely refused.

"He needs the sleep, he was up all last night after you woke him up for more antibiotics." Mr Wolff said.

The doctors backed off allowing Alex to continue to sleep.

It was around noon when he finally woke up, feeling a bit more awake, but not fully rested.

"Hey Alex, You have a good sleep?" Nat asked quietly.

"I guess so," Alex yawned, "Can we go home now?"

"Soon, the doctors have to change your bandages first and she if your burns are getting better." Mr Wolff said quietly.

"Is it breakfast time yet?" Alex asked lethargically.

"You slept right through breakfast, it's almost lunch time," Mr Wolff said with a smile.

"But I'm hungry now," Alex whined.

"I know," Mr Wolff said quietly, he could tell that Alex's burns were still that uncomfortable and painful that Alex would be pretty irritaited and whiny for another day or so.

"If you know, then why haven't you got food," Alex whined more persistantly.

"It's coming, where do you think Onita is?" Mr Wolff said softly.

"Too far away," Alex moaned.

"Just sit tight and I'll get you a soda until she gets back," Mr Wolff said with a small smile.

"Nat, why did I get burned?" Alex asked.

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to," Nat said quietly.

"I know, but what happened?" Alex whined.

"I accidently bumped the table after you tripped over and knocked Onita's tea onto you," Nat said softly.

"Oh," Alex said simply as his stomach growled.

"You sound hungry bro," Nat said with a small grin.

"I know, I hope dad comes back soon with my soda," Alex said longingly.

A couple of minutes late Mr Wolff returned with a Soda and gave it to Alex.

"Thanks dad," Alex said as he began to scull the bottle.


	13. The Beginings Pt1

A four year old Nat sat around in the living room watching TV. His dad walking in slightly grabbed his attention.

_"Nat, where is your brother?" Mr Wolff asked as he noticed Alex wasn't around._

_"What brother?" Nat sulked. He had been like this since his mom died giving birth to Alex,_ _he refused to be nice to his little brother._

"Nat you know what I'm talking about," Mr Wolff said seriously.

"He's not my brother dad," Nat said defiantely.

Mr Wolff sighed heavily, it looked as though Nat would never accept Alex as his brother.

"Nat?... You didn't find me," Alex said timidly slowly walking up to Nat.

"That's because your such a great hider," Nat said sarcastically, he had no idea where Alex hid, he never bothered to look.

"Really?" Alex asked excitedly

"No you dork," Nat said sullenly.

Alex looked at Nat a bit hurt.

"Can I have a hug?" Alex asked walking closer to Nat.

"Get away from me," Nat said pushing Alex away and causing him to fall over backwards.

"Nat apologize to your brother!" Mr Wolff said angrily as Alex started crying.

"He's not my brother," Nat said angrily before running outside slamming the door closed behind him.

Mr Wolff sighed as he bent down and picked up Alex.

"Hey, your ok little buddy," He said soothingly to Alex.

Mr Wolff looked at Alex who stopped crying, he wasn't really hurt, just a little shaken. Not that it was an odd occurance, Nat lashed out at his brother any chance he got.

"Is Nat tired?" Alex asked holding on to his dad.

"Yeah," Mr Wolff lied, he knew he couldn't explain to Alex why Nat was the way he was.

Mr Wolff smelled the air.

"Does someone need a change?" He asked softly.

Alex just nodded.

"Does Nat need to take a nap?" Alex asked as his dad carried him to change his diaper.

"Possibly..." Mr Wolff lied again, he knew no amount of sleep would help Nat with this.

"Dad?" Alex asked as he was laid down on the changing table.

"Yeah Alex," Mr Wolff said as he prepared himself for the grizzly task of changing a messy diaper.

"Why do kids have a big girl with them," Alex asked curuiously.

Mr Wolff knew this question would come eventually, it didn't mean he was ready to answer it.

"Well Alex, Everyone has a mom...." Mr Wolff began.

"What a mom?" Alex asked.

Mr Wolff sighed, this would be harder than he thought.

"Well, there is a dad and a mom...." Mr Wolff tried to continue as he started changing Alex's diaper, before he was inturpted again.

"Are any robots in this story?" Alex asked.

"Alex, do you want to know what a mom is or not?" Mr Wolff asked a little frustrated.

"Is a mom a robot?" Alex asked.

"Yes Alex, a mom is a robot," Nat said annoyed as he walked back in.

"Why don't we have a robot?" Alex asked as his dad got rid of the messy diaper and replaced it with a clean one.

"Shut up Alex," Nat said annoyed as he grabbed a baseball glove and left the apartment again.

"I want go out and play with Nat," Alex said impatiently as his dad taped up his diaper.

"Bad luck buddy, it's nap time," Mr Wolff said relieved to get out of answering the mom question, he knew he would have to answer it one day.

"I don't want go for a nap... I want to play with Nat," Alex persisted.

"Alex, is 1oClock, if you don't go for a nap now you'll be going to bed at five," Mr Wolff said picking Alex up.

"I'm hungry," Alex complained.

"Your always hungry," Mr Wolff said softly, for someone who was a day shy of being two he was a handful. "If your good and stay in your crib I'll bring you in a bottle."

Alex licked his lips, now his dad mentioned it he was thirsty too.

"You should bring Nat in for a nap too," Alex said as his dad laid him in his crib.

"I don't think he'll be home for a while," Mr Wolff said passing Alex his bear, and pulling a blanket up over him.

Mr Wolff left to get Alex his bottle, in some ways he felt sorry for Alex, he could see that Alex couldn't see that Nat hated him.

Mr Wolff was suprised when he came in a few minutes later not only to find Alex still in his crib but fast asleep aswell. He gentley placed Alex's bottle beside him before raising the crib side.

When Nat returned an hour later his dad tried to have a talk with him.

"Nat, why want you give Alex a chance?"

"Why don't you get rid of Alex, and make us happy," Nat snapped, he wished his dad would one day see sense and take Alex to the adoption agency.

"Nat! He hasn't done anything to you, I wish you would be nice to him," Mr Wolff said sadly.

"So far as you want to admit," Nat snapped and walked to his room, making sure to walk up Alex along the way.

That night as Mr Wolff was cooking dinner, Alex was sitting on the bench.

"Hey Alex, you should feel the water in the pot... it's cold" Nat said as his dad went to get something out of the deepfreeze.

"Weally?" Alex asked through his pacifier.

"Yeah man go for it," Nat said sinisterly.

Alex crawled along the bench until he was next to the stove.

"Wu shore? It got bubblies in it," Alex said looking at the boiling water.

"Of course...." Nat said sarcastically.

Alex curiously put his hand in the boiling water, his scream sending his dad running back.

"Alex!" He said urgently pulling Alex's hand out of the pot and quickly putting it under the cold tap.

"......." Alex screamed in pain.

"It's going to be ok," He said softly as he continued to run Alex's hand under the water.

"Stupid Alex," Nat muttered under his breath, deep deep down he felt a little bad for Alex, but at least he got a fraction of the pain Nat felt.

"Nat, go get a coat for you and your brother," Mr Wolff said urgently.

"He's not my brother," Nat retorted.

"Just do it," Mr Wolff said exhasperated.

Nat sulked as he went to his room and grabbed a coat before heading to Alex's room.

"He doesn't have one," Nat said with out even looking.

"In the cupboard," Mr Wolff said urgently.

Nat opened the cupboard.

"It's not in here," He said with out looking through it.

"Ergh..." Mr Wolff said frustrated, " Just grabbed his bag then,"

Nat returned with his coat and Alex's bag.

"Come on, we need to go to the doctor," Mr Wolff said, wrapping a wet facecloth around Alex's hand.

"...." Nat muttured under his breath. His dad was supposed to ignore Alex for being dumb enough to put is hand in boiling water.

Two hours later and Nat sulked as they climbed the stair to the apartment... or more specifically, he and his dad climbed the stairs and Alex slept in his dad's arms.

It was the middle of the night when Alex woke up again, sore and hungry. He bleary eyed looked at his bandaged hand before crying.

He cried for twenty minutes before his dad walked in half asleep.

"Whazamatter..." He said tiredly.

"I'm hungry.... and it hurts," Alex moaned.

"Alex, I left a bottle here for you," Mr Wolff said exhaustedly picking up and passing Alex his bottle.

"What about hand," Alex cried.

"You'll have to put up with it til morning," Mr Wolff said quietly.

"But it hurts....." Alex cried.

"Alex, if I let you sleep with me will you go to sleep?" Mr Wolff said wanting to go back to sleep.

Alex nodded grabbing his bottle with one hand, as his dad picked him up and carried him to his room. Alex lay next to his dad drinking as he gentley drifted to sleep.

When Alex awoke again it was early. Alex climbed out of bed and went into Nat's room, and woke him up.

"Nat, my hand hurts," Alex sobbed showing Nat his bandaged hand.

"Good for you," Nat yawned tiredly.

"Help it?" Alex asked crying.

Nat swore under his breath.

"Ok poopypants," Nat lied cruelly, before leading Alex back to his crib and locking him in it before heading back to bed, with Alex still crying in his crib.

Mr Wolff sort of got annoyed with Alex's misplaced trust in Nat. Nat never did anything to earn it, and he always abused it, and Alex always went back for more. So wasn't the most sympathetic when woke up and found Alex back in his crib.

"Morning Alex," His dad said letting him out.

"Breakfist," Alex said hugging his dad.


	14. The Beginings Pt2

"Nat!" Alex said happily as he came home from kindergarten that afternoon. Alex ran over to give to Nat a hug.

"Get away from me," Nat said annoyed shoving his brother away causing Alex to smack his head into the door.

Nat just walked away as Alex cried on the floor.

Mr Wolff soon came out to find out what Alex was crying about.

"My head hurts," Alex cried.

"What did you do?" Mr Wolff asked trying to get Alex to move his hands so he could take a look.

"Nat pushed me into the door," Alex cried.

"Well there's no blood," Mr Wolff said feeling the big lump on Alex's head.

"It hurts," Alex cried.

"You need to watch out for Nat, he is trying to hurt you," Mr Wolff said softly giving Alex a hug. Just looking at him he could see a history of what Nat had done to Alex recently, and he expected to see more.

Alex didn't say anything as his dad went and put some ice on his head for five minutes before letting him go and play.

The next day while Nat was kindergartenl Alex was in his room as he usually was, watching the beatles play. Alex knew Nat loved the Beatles and maybe it would make him happy if he played an instrument like them. During the day while Nat was at school Alex was teaching himself to play the drums by watching Ringo Starr play them. He used Thomas's drum set in Nats room, though as far as everyone else knew he only played the sax.

Alex curled up the floor and fell asleep on this day, his hand was making it abit akward to sleep at night so he was a bit tired. When Nat came home he wasn't pleased to see Alex asleep in his room.

"Wake up," Nat said kicking Alex hard in the stomach.

Alex groaned and woke with a start.

"Come on, we are going to the park!" Nat said pulling his brother up and dragging him along.

"Cool," Alex said forgetting his sore stomach.

"Hey, do you want to buy my brother?" Nat asked a kid when they got there.

"I don't know what does he do?" The kid asked sceptically.

"You can use him to clean your room and do your homework and all that sort of stuff." Nat said confidently.

"How much?"

"How much have you got?" Nat asked

"Five bucks,"

"That will do,"

"Done," The kid said.

"Awesome, Alex you go with him now, you are his," Nat said taking the five bucks before leaving Alex with this kid.

"What does Nat mean, I'm yours?" Alex asked confused.

"I own you..." The kid said pulling Alex along, his room was a mess and it needed a good clean.

"But what about dad?" Alex asked feeling a little scared.

The kid ignored him as he dragged him home.

The kid watched as he made Alex clean his room, he wasn't doing a very good job of it, he seemed to want to play with everything.

"Cole! Is that room clean yet?" The kids mom called out.

"Almost" Cole called out seeing it was a little cleaner.

"Let me see!" His mother called out before coming in and finding Alex there.

"Who's this?" She asked suspisously.

"This is Alex, he is my servant. I bought him off a kid in the park" Cole said proudly.

"You what! This kids parents are probably worried sick right now," She said

"It's ok, I think it was his brother I bought him off," Cole said trying to explain.

"Come on! We needed to go back and see if his parents are still there," His mother said angrily.

"Come on Alex," Cole said sullenly.

"Nat, where is your brother?" Mr Wolff asked

"Firstly, he's not my brother! Secondly I haven't seen him since he walked outside a couple of hours ago," Nat lied.

"Why didn't you go after him?" Mr Wolff said annoyed.

"If he wants to get out of my hair, I'm not going to stop him." Nat said harshly.

"Come on, we have to go find him," Mr Wolff said angrily.

A couple of hours of walking around the neighbourhood and turned up nothing, so now extremly worried they walked into the police station.

"I'm here to report a missing child." Mr Wolff said urgently.

"What's their name?" The officer asked

"Alex Wolff..."

"Hey didn't someone bring in a kid called Alex?" another officer asked overhearing them. "Hold on a sec,"

The office walked up to the squad room, where one of the female officers was with a kid who was quietly drawing.

"Hey dude, what's your name?" He asked quietly.

"Nat calls me stoopid but dad calls me buddy... sometimes Alex." he said missing his dad.

"Ok," The officer walking back.

"I think we have him, if you want to follow me..." The officer said leading the way.

Nat swore under his breath as he followed his dad and the officer.

"Alex?" Mr Wolff asked seeing him.

Alex lifted his head eagerly.

"Dad!" He shouted running over to him and giving you a hug.

"Don't ever run away from us again." Mr Wolff said hugging him tightly.

"I didn't... Nat gave me to some kid," Alex said quietly.

Mr Wolff realized that Nat would probably get his own way. Alex would be better of in another family where everyone loved him.

"Alex, you are going to have to go somewhere tomorrow," Mr Wolff said heavily, struggling to keep his emotions in check as he tucked him into bed.

"Where?" Alex asked curiously.

"You'll see," Was all he could say.


End file.
